Summary: We have upheld Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in assessing her mother, Mrs Y’s, contribution towards her care costs. The Council has agreed to take appropriate steps to remedy the uncertainty caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s delay in assessing her mother, Mrs Y’s, contribution to the cost of her care after Mrs Y moved to a care home. Ms X said she asked for a finance form, but did not receive one, and also says she chased the Council for an invoice. Ms X says Mrs Y is now faced with a large invoice that she cannot afford to pay.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

What happened

5. The Council arranged residential care for Mrs Y in February 2024. I have seen no record to show the Council discussed the cost of care with the family at that time. However, Ms X was aware Mrs Y would need to contribute towards the cost. She said she asked for a finance form so the Council could assess the amount of the contributions, but it did not send this.
6. It appears the social worker arranging the care did not make a referral for a financial assessment to be carried out and this was not picked up until January 2025. The Council sent a finance form and booklet explaining about charging for adult social care. As it had not received the form and supporting documents, it carried out a financial assessment in March 2025 based on information from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It wrote to Ms X with the financial assessment outcome and sent an invoice for just over £11,000 a few days later.
7. Later in March, the Council received the financial information from Ms X and carried out a re-assessment. It wrote to Ms X with the outcome and sent an invoice showing a credit note of £2,409 to reflect a reduced assessed contribution. This meant Mrs Y owed £8740 for the period from February 2024 to 6 April 2025.
8. In her complaint, Ms X said the capital figures used in the assessment were incorrect and the Council asked her to provide statements to confirm the capital Mrs Y had. This was appropriate action for the Council to take. I would expect it to carry out a further re-assessment if the capital sums used before were incorrect, but I am only considering the period to the point the complaint response was issued (8 April 2025) in this decision statement.

My assessment

9. If we investigated further, it is likely we would find fault with the Council its delay in carrying out a financial assessment between February 2024 and January 2025. This delay meant the family did not know how much Mrs Y needed to pay towards the cost of her care for a prolonged period and led to significant arrears accruing, which has caused worry and stress.
10. We therefore asked the Council to take steps to remedy the injustice caused. It has agreed to take the following action within one month of the date of this decision:
• apologise to Ms X and Mrs Y in line with our guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice;
• issue a credit note for £500 against the outstanding costs to remedy the impact of the delay. (We would usually recommend a symbolic payment to the family but, in this case, I consider it is more appropriate to reduce the outstanding costs, which Mrs Y will have some difficulty in doing);
• offer Ms X and Mrs Y an affordable repayment plan for the remaining outstanding costs; and
• remind relevant staff of the importance of arranging a financial assessment at the time the care is arranged or as soon as possible afterwards.
11. It was appropriate for the Council to carry out a financial assessment, based on DWP figures, in March 2025 and to carry out a reassessment when further financial information was provided. There was no undue delay from January 2025.

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Final decision

12. We have upheld Ms X’s complaint about a delay in carrying out a financial assessment. The Council has agreed to take appropriate steps to remedy the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman